Police chiefs say a centralised unit set up earlier this year is beginning to “turn the tide” in the fight against shoplifters who steal on behalf of organised crime groups.

According to The Times, the Operation Opal team identified 152 people involved in organised crime in just the first three months of the operation.

It comes after police across the UK came under fire for failing to enforce shoplifting laws.

The team collects and analyses CCTV footage, crime reports, dashcam footage and other evidence from all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Among the serial offenders was a Romanian who came to the UK last year and stole £60,000 worth of goods from Boots in 12 months.

Alexandru-Iulian Dima, 25, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to 32 counts of shoplifting.

Interior Ministry officials are currently trying to issue a deportation order to have him sent back to Romania.

Footage from South Wales Police shows 25-year-old Alexandru-Iulian Dima stuffing items into a bag before leaving the store

The footage shows the moment Dima was arrested by South Wales Police in a nearby car park.

Alexandru-Iulian Dima, 25, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to 32 counts of shoplifting

Almost 444,000 incidents of shoplifting were recorded in England and Wales in the year to March, compared with 342,428 in the previous 12 months

Dima was found by the Operation Opal team who had detected similar patterns of shoplifting and alerted South Wales Police to his whereabouts.

South Wales Police then carried out a sting operation, believing their town would soon become the target of an itinerant criminal.

Staff at the Boots store in Pontypridd spotted Dima inside and alerted police using a radio system used by retailers across the town, which puts them in direct contact with patrolling officers.

Dima tried to escape, but the officers caught up with him at a nearby parking lot.

Pontypridd Police Constable Liam Noyce: “We looked at the information about his offence and chose the day we believed he arrived in the town.

‘And then we got a call from the Boots staff and we arrested him, putting an end to this campaign of crime in cities across the UK.

“We understand how important retailers, both large and small, are to the city and we are determined to ensure they are protected from crime.”

Alex Goss, deputy chief constable of Merseyside Police and the NPCC’s lead on retail crime, told The Times: “This new approach, combined with Opal’s highly effective intelligence work… shows a clear improvement in our response, dealing decisively with criminals and supporting retailers of all sizes.”

A shoplifter empties the shelves of a Greggs store in south-east London into a giant duffel bag in July

A phone clip from July shows young shoplifters forcing their way past staff to steal trainers from a Nike store in the shadow of Wembley Stadium

Stephanie Coombes, Opal’s head of intelligence, added: “Opal has been doing this role for many years with other types of crime and we have had significant success in providing a national overview of what is happening in the world of organised crime.”

MailOnline revealed in July that a joint operation between police and 15 major retailers found that criminal gangs were responsible for a quarter of all shoplifting in England and Wales.

A task force called Project Pegasus combed through thousands of hours of surveillance and body-worn camera footage, as well as employee statements, to create a “shoplifting map.”

After two months of analysis, including the use of facial recognition software, the working group found that just 12 gangs were contributing to the rise in crime.

There is a shoplifting crisis in the UK, with the crimes having risen by 30 per cent in a year to their highest level in two decades, according to the latest police figures.

Police in England and Wales recorded almost 444,000 crimes in the year to March, compared with 342,428 in the previous 12 months.

According to data from the National Statistical Office, this is the highest number since 2003, when measurements began.

But industry representatives say under-reporting of shoplifting incidents means it is even more common than previously thought, with many shop owners failing to report the crimes to overstretched police and criminal gangs who operate without fear of being caught.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said the rise in shoplifting was due to the perception it was a risk-free crime.

Footage from July shows a group of men brazenly stealing goods from a Boots store in north London, then stuffing them into bags in front of shocked customers

He told MailOnline: “Shoplifting used to be the kind of thing people didn’t want to get caught for because they knew it could get them into trouble, but now people don’t bother at all because they think they won’t get seriously hurt.

“A lot of retail crime is now organised, with people stealing large quantities of products such as alcohol, meat and designer clothes. They are linked to other criminals who sell them elsewhere.

“The fact that thefts under £200 are not prosecuted and officers are left with a lot of work means that retailers are finding it very difficult to get the support they need.

Meanwhile, managers are increasingly concerned about the violence that can occur when catching shoplifters, so they are telling their employees not to expose themselves to that risk.

So we have two problems: the partial decriminalisation of shoplifting and the fact that the police are too busy and retailers are telling store staff not to intervene.

Professor Bamfield suggested the latest police figures may actually downplay the seriousness of the situation due to under-reporting.

“Stores are rationing the use of police, which means crimes are going unreported,” he said. “I spoke to one retailer who said the police were telling them to report only two shoplifting incidents a day because they didn’t have enough time.”

A retail expert suggested the only way to control the outbreak is to make the issue a priority for law enforcement.

“Shoplifting is often a route to becoming a serious criminal, so if you catch someone at 15 or 16, you can dissuade them from doing so,” he said.